Never Again
by urdreamkeeper
Summary: Never say never.....something always happens. It's pretty gross, Be warned. It's Finished..yAy!!!Thanks to all who have reviewed!
1. Default Chapter

Never Again

Summary: Not all of Sg-1's missions have happy endings.

Season: Six .Jonas is in it, but there are no spoilers. Zip, zilch, Nada, None.

Rated: Pg-13 only because it's bloody.

Disclaimer: Wait, let me check........ Nope! Stargate not mine!

Author's note: Not for the weak of stomach. I was having a bad day, so I took it out on our heroes.

Chapter 1: Jonas

He didn't know why he had ordered them to turn back. Call it intuition, or chalk it up to years of special ops training, maybe it was just dumb luck, or fate. For whatever higher power had led him to order a retreat, he was silently sending a prayer of thanks. His team was currently being pummeled with alien ammunition that they had never before encountered. They could not see the enemy either, which made the unfriendly fire that much more dangerous. 

SG-1 had gated to this planet, simply to rescue the UAV that had crashed here during a scouting mission a couple of days ago. It had crashed into the foliage that covered the planet, which looked like jungle. A lot of jungle. There didn't seem to be any end to the trees and the vines, and the weave of the leaves in the sky. Unlike on Earth, there were no creatures in this jungle. There were no monkeys in the trees, or birds in the air, or anything skittering on the ground. Just trees, and mud and vines and whoever was shooting at them from somewhere behind. The "bullets" from the aliens' weapons seemed to explode upon impact, releasing some sort of noxious gas that was nauseating O'Neill something terrible. The others too, looked a bit green as they fought their way back to the gate. What ever that stuff was, the Colonel thought he could definitely have gotten through his entire life without smelling it. It was the smell of road kill gone rancid in the hot summer sun; except it was worse somehow, because it was entirely alien.

"Are you guys all right?" The Colonel quickly shouted into his radio, and continued to return fire.

"I'm feeling pretty sick Colonel." Jonas responded. "How much farther is it to the gate?"

Sam didn't respond. She was doing her best just to try and keep her footing and previously eaten lunch in tact, so she just kept shooting.

"I don't know Jonas. Teal'c what's the locater saying?" O'Neill shouted back. 

Teal'c had volunteered to hold the locater for the MALP beacon this trip, because Carter had her hands full with the equipment to find and fix the UAV that they had never managed to find.

"O'Neill, I too am feeling extremely ill. The locating device estimates another point seven miles until we reach the DHD.

"Okay, not bad. That's less than a mile; I think we can make it, let's pick up the pace a little bit!" The Colonel said, sounding more positive than he actually felt.

Suddenly, Jack saw Jonas's upper thigh explode from the force of a bullet. Jonas sank like a brick. Jack could see a twisted, snarling look of pain on the young man's face, and Jack ran the fifteen yards or so to where Jonas went down. Still shooting blind at an unseen enemy, the Colonel dragged his young team mate to safety under an enormous fallen tree trunk. There was a little trench under the trunk that was half as deep as the men were tall. Jack and Jonas were safe for the time being. They could hear the rain of ammunition above their heads. The bullets made an irritating whine as they flew all around the trees above them.

"AAAH Colonel, IT BURNS!!!!" Jonas screamed in agony. Jack looked down at Jonas's left leg, and if not for his training, would have gagged at what he saw. The 'bullet' had split the Quadriceps and had gone straight through to exit through the hamstring. The entrance wound was seared as if it were burned, but the exit wound was bleeding massively, and it was a gaping hole about the size of a softball. Jonas's hamstring hung out of the wound to the outer part of his thigh. Dark, venous blood soaked through his BDU pants from mid thigh, all the way down the leg and disappeared into his boot.

"At least it's not your driving leg, right?" The Colonel quipped uneasily. With the stench of the gas from the ammunition, and the sight of Jonas's shredded leg, it took every bit of willpower Jack had to keep from losing his stomach. And he had seen many wounds in his years in the USAF; most of which had come from his stay at Stargate command. But Jonas's wound was high up on the most disgusting list.

"Carter, Teal'c, hold up!" Jack keyed his radio. But Teal'c had already seen the pair duck under the branch, and was at their side before O'Neill finished his transmission.

"Colonel O'Neill, are you injured?" Teal'c asked, looking down into Jonas and Jack's hiding spot.

"Nope, not me, Jonas. We need to get him patched up the best we can and get the hell back to the gate. Help me get the med kit out of my pack. Where's Carter?"

"I will return for her. I believe she too has taken cover behind a large tree per your request to wait." Teal'c was getting the first aid kit out of O'Neill's pack as he spoke.

"Here O'Neill." Said Teal'c as he handed the Colonel the medical kit. "I will return with Major Carter."

"Careful Teal'c, what ever they're using inside their ammunition seems pretty toxic." Jack was packing Jonas's wound with one of the sterile sponges.

Teal'c nodded in respect and climbed the short distance out of the little hole to go find Sam.

"How're you doing Jonas? You still with me?" The Colonel was wrapping a pressure dressing around Jonas's leg, with him moaning in contest. O'Neill was certain Jonas was going to pass out from shock any second now. The blood loss was already significant, and Jack was preparing himself to have to help Teal'c carry Jonas the rest of the way back to the gate.

Jonas didn't respond to the Colonel. Instead, his lunch decided it wanted a second trip around, and he vomited on the ground beside where he lay. He looked up at Jack with a helpless, 'I'm sorry' look.

Jack acted quickly. "It's okay, I do that all the time. Especially after a long night of drinking. But I have to sit you up so you don't choke if you decide you need to do that again." With a pseudo-smile, O'Neill helped Jonas to sit up in the little ditch. He didn't mention to Jonas that what should have looked like his half eaten lunch was actually a little puddle of bloody mass.

//Definitely not good. I don't know what that stuff in their ammunition is, but he's going to bleed to death from the inside out if we don't hurry. Christ, I really don't need this.// 

Jack was still in thought, when Jonas wretched again. This time, some splattered on Jack, and he began to wipe at it with his sleeve. 

"Colonel.." Jack looked at him as Jonas's head fell to his chest.

"JONAS! LOOK AT ME!" The Colonel was smacking the side of the younger man's face. It was no use. The shock had overcome him, and Jonas fell unconscious; regurgitated blood ran down his chin and over his vest.

"Damn." The Colonel said out loud. He keyed his radio to hail Carter and Teal'c. 

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	2. chapter 2 : Sam

Chapter 2 Sam

Author's note: Still there? Keep reading, it gets better.

Teal'c charged out of the ditch behind the fallen tree as if he were doing it in his sleep. He was as graceful as a Jaffa warrior could be, dodging the poisonous bullets that were flying by every inch of his sweating body. Teal'c spotted Major Carter crouching behind a large, vine-covered tree about forty yards away, firing her P-90 at anything in the tree line that moved. Teal'c made a zig zag pattern to get to a tree close to where Carter was at.

"MAJOR CARTER!!!!!" Teal'c shouted at her without using his radio. Surprisingly, he didn't really have to shout that loud. She heard him clear as day. But as soon as she turned her head to speak, the enemy fire picked up in intensity. Teal'c took blind aim with his staff, and just started shooting into the jungle.

"Teal'c, did you notice that the enemy is not getting any closer? There are more of them, but they haven't caught up to us yet. That just doesn't seem right, what do you think?" Sam asked as she reloaded. Snapping her magazine into the top of the P-90, she waited for Teal'c's reply before firing again.

"I think that is fine and well Major Carter. Jonas Quinn is hurt severely. O'Neill is tending to his wound as we speak. However, we are going to need as much room as possible between us and the enemy to get Jonas to the gate. I believe it is only a little more than a half of a mile. Major Carter, there is something else." Teal'c hesitated, which caused him to have to fire a few blasts into the trees.

"O'Neill believes there is a poisonous gas inside of the ammunition. I am in agreement. We should take extreme caution to avoid any further injuries." Teal'c had a gray-green look to his face, which could have matched Sam's exactly.

"Yeah tell me about it Teal'c. I am never eating a turkey club again in my life if we make it out of here. Does the Colonel need help with Jonas?" Sam winced as a bullet exploded into the tree where she was hiding. The stench was dreadful, and it also made her eyes water. It reminded Sam of leftovers that had been in her fridge after one of SG-1's month long assignments. She certainly learned to do her shopping one day at a time after that. But even the leftovers had not smelled this bad. Just then, the Colonel broke through on his radio.

"Carter! Teal'c! Jonas went into shock and passed out, I need some help to get him out of this hole that we've snugged ourselves into! I think if we don't get him back to Frasier soon, we're going to be looking for another replacement for our team by tomorrow morning! Get back to this trunk, there seems to be enough cover for us to be able to get him out of here, and then we're just going to have to low-crawl it for a bit. We need to make up some time! Carter, Teal'c, do you copy? Over!" 

"We're on our way Sir!" Sam responded over her own radio. Teal'c led the way, retracing his criss-cross pattern to avoid the spray of enemy fire. Sam was tight on his heels. The smell from the gas was making her nauseous, but Sam kept up with Teal'c like a good soldier, and they reached the other two team members in only a little more than a minute.

When Sam saw Jonas and the Colonel together in the ditch, both with blood down the front of their vests, her heart skipped and her breath stuck in her lungs. After quickly assessing that her CO was okay, Sam looked down the rest of the way at Jonas's left leg. His entire pants leg was covered in dark red blood, right down to his boot. In the center of his thigh, was a bandage held in place with field camouflaged gauze wrap. Sam saw that that too was soaked through with blood.

"O'Neill, you are correct. If we do not get Jonas Quinn out of here immediately, he will die. I will assist you." Teal'c liked Jonas, and he didn't want anything else to happen to him, but Jack put his hand up to stop Teal'c from hauling Jonas up, and climbed out of the hole himself. 

"We have to drag him and stay as close to the ground as possible. If we just stay down and low crawl it most of the way, the vines and the tree roots along the way should provide a good deal of cover. Agreed?"

The Colonel was already flat on the ground out of the ditch as he tried to lift Jonas up by the belt. Teal'c nodded and helped Jack get Jonas out of the hole. 

The boys led the way, crawling on their bellies, and dragging Jonas in between them. Sam followed closely behind, still lugging the equipment for the UAV. It was really slow going. They only got about twenty feet when Jonas started wretching again. The Colonel rolled Jonas onto his right side. Sam stopped about five feet behind, and watched revoltingly as Jonas threw up his guts…… and half of his blood supply. O'Neill shot his 2IC a warning look that said Jonas wasn't doing so great. Teal'c and Jack started crawling again, dragging Jonas over the vines and rocks on the ground. The foul smelling, alien ammunition had continued to whiz over heir heads the entire way. The four travelers continued on their bellies for almost twenty minutes. Just then, Sam had to lift herself up enough to adjust the strap that held her P-90 to her vest.

As if sensing her movements, Jack stopped dragging Jonas to turn around and check on his second in command. He watched in slow motion as Sam propped herself up to loosen the strap on her weapon. She couldn't have avoided the bullet even if she had tried. In horror, Jack saw the front of Sam's chest burst out just below her right shoulder, and above the breast. Her face twisted in agony and the Major collapsed in a heap. 

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Damn cliffhangers. Oh well, guess you'll just have to read the next chapter, eh?


	3. chapter 3: Teal'c

Chapter 3 Teal'c

Author's note: You're probably going to be throwing rotten tomatoes at the computer screen when you're done reading this one.

"NO, NO, NO! Carter!!" The Colonel screamed in anguish. He let go of Jonas and crawled the five or six feet back to Sam. Teal'c turned around too, carefully setting Jonas flat on the ground, to see what had happened. 

"Carter! Carter look at me! Carter I swear to god if you're dead, I am shooting myself and coming after you!" Jack noticed that the entrance wound was the same as Jonas's. A little tiny seared hole. He rolled her over, and could smell rotten flesh as he checked out her exit wound; which, like Jonas's was about the size of a small softball. With one exception. The blood coming from the Major's wound was a pulsing, bright red, which meant that the bullet had struck an artery, and she was already unconscious.

"Teal'c!! Teal'c she's been hit! Oh Christ! How far are we from the gate?!" O'Neill was in an unusual state of panic, but he still managed to initiate the emergency medical procedures required for field ops training. He got out the med kit from his pack as quickly as he could without getting all the way up. 

"We are approximately point two miles from the DHD O'Neill! If we carry Jonas Quinn and Major Carter, and run in a defensive pattern, we could be at the gate in just under ten minutes! I can carry Jonas Quinn; can you carry Major Carter?" Teal'c wasn't shouting exactly, but his voice was worried, and full of excitement, so it carried very loudly.

"Yeah Teal'c, I think our best bet is just to haul ass out of here as fast as we can. I just need to dress this wound, or she'll bleed to death before we even get to the gate. You start on up ahead with Jonas and dial home. I know you said the gate is really close, but with all of theses damned vines and trees, I can't see a thing. Run a diagonal pattern, and try to stay as low as possible. It'll be tough, but I have faith in you buddy. Now, go on, go! Get Jonas home as quick as you can, I'll be on your six!" O'Neill watched as Teal'c, ever so valiant and strong, hoisted Jonas up onto his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Instantly, the enemy fire picked up again, but Teal'c was already off, running his criss-cross pattern to get his team mate home to safety.

Panic put to the wayside by his military training, O'Neill went to work quickly on his 2IC's wound. He removed her vest, and unzipped her jacket. Not even bothering to lift up her black t-shirt, Jack packed the wound with everything he had from the medical kit. His heart was aching at the sight of the viscous blood spurting out of Sam's shoulder.

//Why does she have to be so tiny? Tall yes, but thin, Carter you need some meat on your bones.//

But the patch job still wasn't enough. The wound was very deep, and the gauze was already saturated. The Colonel took off his vest, and then his jacket, and finally his own black t-shirt. The strange bullets whistled tritely by his head. Putting his vest and jacket back on over his bare chest, he stuffed his t-shirt into a big wad, and used the last of the medical tape to hold the shirt in place in Sam's wound. He put her vest back on to provide a little bit of support for the t-shirt, but Jack didn't think it would matter much.

"Jesus Carter, I knew you were jealous of Jonas, but do you have to play copycat, huh?" Jack was trying to swallow the little bulb in his throat, and he thought a joke might help him deal a little better with the situation. It didn't do any good. Jack looked down at his hands, and the sight of Sam's blood turned over a new fear in his gut. He'd seen many close friends die on missions in his years with the Special Forces. With Sam it was totally different. Maybe it was because she was a woman. Maybe it was because in all of their time at the SGC, Jack had admired Sam more deeply than anyone he'd ever known; and as cliche' as it sounded, she was his hero. Whether she knew it or not, she was vital to his existence, and he just had to get her home safely. Both of their lives depended on it.

"Hang on Carter, we're going home." The Colonel said softly as he got his arms under Sam. With a deep breath, Jack stood up and hoisted his beloved Major into his arms. The adrenaline pumping through his veins made carrying Sam a whole lot easier, and Jack followed Teal'c's lead to get back to the gate quickly.

Jack got about one hundred feet, and Sam started vomiting. Jack looked at her in horror. What he saw was bright red, bubbling and smelled so bad, he gagged. Whatever the aliens did to their ammunition, it made its victims horribly sick. Jack couldn't help but wonder if the poison didn't rot the body from the inside out. The way Carter was beginning to smell, Jack thought his assumptions were probably right. But he didn't dare stop running, or attempt to put Sam down. The bullets zinged everywhere, so Jack kept going in the same zigzag pattern that Teal'c had used. Carter's rotten emesis pooled in every crevice of their vests, but the Colonel didn't even notice. He heard the distinct sound of the 'KAWOOSH' of the gate, and doubled his efforts to get there before it shut down so that he didn't have to stop and redial.

Jumping over one last, huge vine, O'Neill saw Teal'c picking Jonas up off of the ground near the DHD. It looked like Teal'c had had to put Jonas down to dial the gate and send the iris code. Sprinting for all he was worth, Jack started to call to Teal'c. As the Colonel opened his mouth to get Teal'c's attention, he saw the Jaffa's head as it was struck by alien ammunition. Teal'c crumpled under Jonas's weight, and they both fell to the ground at the base of the gate.

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OKAY!!!!!!!! There's more on the way; it just has to be betaed first. Tell me what you think, I promise I will not harm your computer with a virus if you review! Pleeeaasssse! Homeowner's insurance doesn't cover "Drool Damage".


	4. getting home

Chapter 4: Getting Home

Author's note: I warned ya! If you don't like blood and guts and......well.... vomit, and then turn back now before it's too late! It does whole lot better though, I promise. Just not in this chapter. Enjoy!

"TEAL'C!!!!" Jack was still hurrying to get to the DHD with Sam in his arms. She wasn't that heavy, but his legs were so tired, he felt like he was running through sludge. Teal'c wasn't moving, and neither was Jonas. 

"OOOOOOAUHHOH." Sam moaned in pain as the Colonel ran. She didn't wake up completely, but that single groan made Jack feel just a slight bit better. If Sam was making noises, she was breathing. If she was breathing, she was alive. If she was alive, he knew everything would be okay. It just had to be okay.

The wormhole was still activated. O'Neill was worried it might shut down before he could get his crew through. Hoping that he wasn't doing her more harm than good, Jack lifted Sam up and over his right shoulder in a fireman's carry. He grabbed his radio with his left hand, and held Sam up on his shoulder with his right.

"Stargate Command, this is Colonel O'Neill! My team is severely injured.... all of them! I have to get them home by myself, we are under heavy attack! Say again. We are under heavy enemy fire! Keep sending radio signals, or MALP signals, or any kind of fricking signals through the worm hole so that it doesn't shut down, do you copy? I need time to get my team through the gate, and the radio signal will keep the wormhole active!" Talking and running were almost second nature to Jack after his years in the field, but he was winded from carrying Sam. He was almost to the DHD, and he heard a reply. The storm of ammunition continued, as the voice came back over his radio.

"Colonel O'Neill, we read you sir. We are sending an intermittent signal through to the MALP every five seconds. That should be enough to sustain the wormhole for another thirty-four minutes. The gate has already been active for four minutes sir Please hurry! We'll be standing by with a medical team upon your return. God speed Colonel, Over.

Jack reached the DHD, and had to put Sam down. He used the base of the dialing device as cover, and set his 2IC down in a hurry. Another groan of protest from Sam was all that Jack need for reassurance. The bullets continued to fly, bouncing off of the DHD, the trees, and even the gate. Jack ran to where his alien friends had fallen. This Stargate had no ramp, but rather, strange step like structures that led up to the gate. Teal'c had said when they arrived on this planet several hours ago, (it seemed) that the gate was most likely still in use. Which would explain why SG-1 was being used for target practice right then.

The Colonel reached Teal'c and Jonas, and cringed at the sight of his friends' wounds.

"Teal'c! Damn it Teal'c!"

Jack saw a pool of Teal'c's blood around his head on the step he was lying on. The Colonel didn't have time to lift the Jaffa's head to get a better look. The alien shots were getting louder, and closer. O'Neill could feel his heart hammering away at the inside of his chest. He was certain the wormhole would de- stabilize and shut down, but so far so good. He hoped the med teams were prepped and ready to go.

Untangling Jonas from Teal'c, O'Neill was appalled to see that the flesh around Jonas's wound was turning a gray- yellow, and his uniform pants were completely eaten away from around where the slug had penetrated, exposing Jonas's bare leg to the open air. The pressure dressing was till in tact, but it looked like it was disintegrating. Jonas's face and chin were covered with frothy- looking blood that Jack could only guess was from throwing up.

//Okay Jack, one at a time, you can do this. They need medical attention right now, let's hurry it up! //

It took a split second of mental preparation to get himself psyched up, then the Colonel reached for Teal'c.

Grabbing him under the arms, Jack managed to drag the large warrior to the wormhole. Just as he was about to push the Jaffa through the event horizon, Teal'c too started throwing up his lunch. O'Neill had to roll Teal'c over on his side, so that he wouldn't choke on his own vomit. The blood continued to run out of the top of Teal'c's head, just as fast as the contents of his stomach flowed out of his mouth. The event horizon was fluctuating ridiculously as the bullets entered the wormhole at lightning speed. Teal'c was unresponsive to anything. Jack checked his pulse. Teal'c's heart rate was super fast, but it was very thready, and weak. 

//Well, I think Hammond will want to lock THIS planet out of the dialing computer. I hope they are taking cover back home, or they're going to be changing the menus in the commissary from now on, after everybody who's shot complains about the food. //

With a grim smile on his face at the thought of the entire defense team in the infirmary, O'Neill rolled Teal'c into the wormhole. He sincerely hoped that the teams on the other side would get to him quickly.

"Teal'c, the Doc will take good care of you buddy, see you in a few minutes."

Jack went back over to get Jonas. The young Kelownan actually opened his eyes as Jack was grabbing him under the arms like he had done to Teal'c.

"Colughhcukk" Jonas was gagging trying to talk to Jack. What was supposed to be 'Colonel' ended up coming out as low, gargling sounds. Blood followed the sounds as Jonas spat all down the front of his vest.

As with Teal'c, the Colonel rolled Jonas onto his side.

"Don't talk, Jonas. You're going to make it worse. The Doc will fix you up; she's like the miracle worker or something. See you in a few minutes."

With a quick and firm squeeze of Jonas's hand, Jack rolled him into the event horizon.

The Colonel turned and retraced his path back to the DHD to get his second. A bullet went whistling by his ear, and Jack fell to the ground from the near miss. He low crawled about ten more feet to get back to Sam.

When he reached her, he could see the same gray-yellow slime around the packing to the wound that he had seen on Jonas. He had mistakenly thought that Jonas's flesh was turning colors, but after examining Sam, the Colonel realized that the gel-like substance was what was eating the flesh...and the packing material in the wound. There was something else too.

The Major wasn't breathing.

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Don't you hate it when that happens?


	5. Chapter 5 Jack and Sam

Chapter 5: Jack and Sam 

Author's note: Okay, your stomach's still a wreck, how's your heart? Want to take it for a ride? Keep reading at your own risk. 

"CARTER!" Jack lifted Sam's head to check her carotid for a pulse. He put his head on her chest to feel for the slightest hint of a breath. The adrenaline dumped and the Colonel's stomach twisted in fear. She didn't have a heartbeat either. Her chest didn't rise one bit.

"Carter, God damn it, don't do this to me!!" He grabbed her by the collar, and pulled Sam down from the slumped position that she was in up against the base of the DHD. As he laid her on the ground, a bullet hit the top of the DHD, almost where Sam's head had been. The smell made him gag, and Jack cringed as he opened his 2IC's vest and jacket to begin chest compressions. The gelatinous goo was all over O'Neill's t-shirt posing as a wound dressing, and the fermented meat smell was revolting. Suddenly Jack was reminded of all the times when he had left on a mission and forgotten to put the trash out on the curb, and how horrible it had smelled when he had come home. He quickly shook the image.

"….thirteen and fourteen and fifteen." The Colonel counted out loud. Using his head chin tilt he quickly gave Sam two breaths, and watched as her chest rose and fell with each one. Jack repeated the cycle again, and as he was watching Sam's chest rise after another breath, he glanced up at the rippling event horizon. He was cursing the same higher power to whom he had been thanking only an hour or so before.

Jack refused to quit on his Major. He kept up with the CPR for what seemed like hours to him. The sweat was rolling down his face, and he could feel the lining of his jacket soaked through. Now he knew why he wore t-shirts under his uniform. He was completely unaware of the tears that were falling right along with the sweat.

"Carter, can you hear me? Sam listen, you have to help me here, okay? I need you to pull out of this. Make yourself well." Jack's breath hitched in his throat, but he kept on with his compressions.

"Sam, you…huh…are the…huh… smartest woman I know. You can fix any…huh…huh…thing. Make this better too. I know you can…huh…huh." Jack was running out of stamina; compressions were difficult, and after the running he had done, and the terribly nauseating aromas, he was wearing down fast. His radio startled him out of his mantra.

"Colonel O'Neill!" Jack was grateful to hear Hammond's voice at last. "We have Jonas and Teal'c safe and in the infirmary. We have been sending the signal to the MALP every five seconds, even though all of the enemy fire that you are encountering on your end is coming straight through the wormhole at us. We are approaching the thirty eight minute window, in a little more than six minutes. You will have to re-dial again from your end if the wormhole shuts down. Jack, do you copy? We cannot sustain the wormhole any longer than the thirty eight minutes. Whatever you've got to do, you have to do it now! Colonel do you read? Hammond out."

Jack didn't know what to do. His shoulders were in agony from doing the compressions on Sam. He looked at the DHD with malice.

//Fuck. If I have to go around front and redial, I might as well have a gigantic god damn bull's eye on the back of my vest. I have to move her now. I HAVE to get her home.//

Another bullet plunking off of the DHD interrupted Jack's thoughts.

"Carter, you've gotta help me here, we have a choice to make. You can come out of this, and I can drag you home and buy you a cheeseburger after the Doc releases you from the infirmary. Or you can lie here, and I can keep pounding away at you until the gate shuts down and we both die. Now what do you say?" Jack gave Sam another rescue breath, and when nothing happened, he looked at his watch.

"Sam. We have four minutes, and counting. Please, you've got to be okay." The Colonel began another round of chest compressions and breathing. Unexpectedly, the squishing sound of the goo around Sam's wound reminded Jack of SPAM when you dig it out of the can, and he couldn't take it anymore. Letting go of his 2IC, the stoic Colonel turned on his knees and threw up all over the ground behind him. This time however, the expected return of his lunch was all that was contained in the regurgitation. There was no blood, and the smell was actually quite welcome compared to what the others' had smelled like.

//For Christ's sake, I am NEVER eating SPAM again.//

"Okay Carter, you want to do it your way, I am dragging your ass back home right now! Let's go!"

With that, the Colonel wrapped one hand around Sam's neck and put the other arm under her legs. The slugs were still flying as Jack started to stand up with Sam once again in his arms. The gate looked a mile away, but the Colonel began to sprint as hard as he could, to get to the event horizon. 

Like something out of a movie, the alien ammunition came to an abrupt halt. Almost startled into stopping, Jack could feel in his gut the workings of a trap. As much as he wanted to, the Colonel didn't turn around to look behind him as he went up the foreign, step-like structure that led to the gate. He instantly decided that he didn't care _why_ the enemy fire had quit, just that he was going to take advantage of it while it had. As Jack was about to cross the threshold of the event horizon, an explosion rang out from somewhere behind him. The wave of fire was what sent the Colonel through the wormhole, still carrying Sam.

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Please review, Please review, please review away, oh what fun it is to ride the wave of angst today!

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	6. Chapter 6: Crisis Mode

Chapter 6 Crisis Mode

Author's note: Okay so they got home, now what? Keep reading to find out.

The Colonel and his second flew out of the other end of the wormhole at record speed. The blast had lifted Jack off of his feet. He clung to Sam with every ounce of energy he had. When Jack hit the ramp, he heard the iris close behind him. But not before he felt the heat from the fire that had shot him through the gate. Jack landed hard on his bum, but it was better than letting Sam get hurt any further. He deftly rolled into the landing, ending on top of his 2IC at the bottom of the ramp. Quickly climbing off of her, Jack tried standing up, but his body just wouldn't let him, and the Colonel sank to the floor.

He took in the scene. The blast doors were down, the defensive ground unit was in full battle dress, and as the medical squads surrounded the two, Jack noticed that everyone was in their hazmat gear. The walls of the gate room looked like they had been hosed down with SPAM jelly. Jack gagged again at the sight. The ammunition that had traveled through the wormhole had struck the walls and had exploded into the yellow- gray goo that Jack had seen all over Sam and Jonas. The rotten cabbage smell was everywhere.

"Hurry up, damn it, she isn't breathing! She doesn't have a pulse! She's got a serious wound too, watch it!" From his vantage point on the floor next to Sam, Jack directed the med teams, practically still lying on the Major.

"Colonel, it's good to have you home", one of the masked figures said. "But you need to get off of her so we can work!"

Jack didn't move. The shock of landing on his rear was inhibiting his legs from moving.

The voice was familiar. Jack turned his head to look up at whom ever had spoken to him.

" MOVE NOW SIR!" Janet Frasier shouted at the Colonel.

"I ca can't….I can't move!" Jack said helplessly as he looked back down at Sam.

"Doc, you have to help her! I couldn't help her, Doc, you have to, please…he..help…" Jack's body was so exhausted, and his stomach had been through so much, that he couldn't take it anymore. The Colonel collapsed on the cement floor next to his second.

"Please, please don't let her die. I couldn't help her!" Jack was talking groggily at anyone that would listen. An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and nose, and the cool air started to bring Jack back around. He felt strong hands under his shoulders and feet, and then he was seeing the ceiling of the SGC as he was rolled to the infirmary.

"Sam, don't go. You can fix this one too…." Jack could fight sleep no longer. 

By the time he was transferred into the bed next to Jonas, the Colonel's eyes were closed and he was almost down for the count as the med staff started their examination.

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Major Carter was in trouble. The med team had her on the gurney, and they had cut off the vest and jacket and slimy bandages and t-shirt. They were taking over the chest compressions from where the Colonel had left off. Once again, Janet found herself on top of the gurney so she could perform CPR correctly on her best friend. Trying to squelch the urge to cry at the sight of Sam's wound, she continued with the compressions as one of the nurses bagged. The edges around Sam's lips were turning blue. 

//I wonder how long she's been down. She's already getting cyanotic. Jesus, Sam what happened back there?//

"Get the paddles, charge to two hundred; put her on the monitor, I want to see what her rhythm is! And get four units of O neg into her right now! Then I want you to get whoever is available to prep the OR. Let's go people!!" Janet hopped down off of the gurney as they entered the infirmary. She briefly glanced around at her other occupants. Teal'c and Jonas were stable, but still unconscious. The Colonel was the only one without injuries, but he had his eyes closed. Janet turned back to Sam and the med staff while they hooked up the monitors.

"Oh no, she's in a systole. We can't shock on a flat line!" Janet was starting to panic. She knew why there was an unwritten rule about working on your own family, but to her, all of the staff at the small little SGC base was family and she didn't have a choice. Janet's medical training took over. 

The tiny doctor administered a pre-cordial thump to the middle of Sam's chest, in the hope that some semblance of a rhythm would appear on the monitor. Nothing. At the sound of the loud thud against Sam's flesh, Jack opened his eyes and turned his head towards his 2IC.

"CARTER!!!!!" The Colonel screamed and started to sit up in the bed. The wires and I.V. lines had Jack all tangled up, and the staff had to restrain him.

"Give him 2 mg of Haldol I.V., and keep him from hurting himself!!!!!!" Janet barked at the corpsman that was about to be squashed, if Jack wasn't calmed down.

Janet turned back to Sam. The Major was a mess. Her wound was full of gross, yellow slime that was mixing rapidly with the blood that spurted out with every chest compression. She was a dusky blue shade all over. Janet had seen that color many times before. The doc knew what would be next. That flat line wouldn't budge, and she would be forced to terminate the resuscitation on her most precious friend in the world.

"Uh, okay, let's give her 2 amps of epinephrine, and we'll try to cardiovert anyway. We have got to try something!" Against her better medical judgment, Janet began to prep the defibrillator paddles. She didn't even know if Sam would want her to proceed or not, but Janet didn't care. She wanted Sam to live, and she would do everything in her power to see that that happened. She looked back over at the Colonel's bed. He was watching in meager, silent hope.

"We're going to do everything we can Colonel." Janet said to try and reassure Jack. She thought she sounded pretty convincing, but the Colonel had seen too many deaths in the field to buy the Doctor's act. He just lay very still and took in all of the commotion. 

"Paddles are charged! I'm clear, you're clear, everybody's clear!" The jolt of electricity shot through Sam, sending her body up off of the gurney. Her arms went limp, falling to either side. When she settled back down onto the gurney, her head rolled to the left, and if her eyes would have been open, then she would've been looking directly at the Colonel.

As the Haldol took effect on Jack, a single tear rolled down his right cheek. His last image before allowing the darkness to envelop him, was of Sam's pale face. And the monitor behind her blipping very, very slowly.

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So, you know that review link at the bottom of the page? It's this cool little thing that let's me know if you really want me to finish the story or not. Click it and tell me what you think, eh? 


	7. ch 7 procedures

Chapter 7: Procedures

Author's note: This is the part where I fill in the missing pieces. Not gross, and angsty like the rest, but it was necessary. 

Jack awoke in the infirmary some time later, and he noticed that he and Teal'c were the only residents currently occupying any of the beds. Seeing that Teal'c was indeed only resting, and not seeing the other half of his team, instantly the Colonel started to panic.

"Teal'c! Wake up! Where are Carter and Jonas?" Jack started to undo all of the equipment that was still attached to him, so he could get up and find out what had happened to his team. When Teal'c didn't respond, Jack turned in the direction of his bed.

"He's unconscious sir. But he can still hear you if you want to talk to him." Janet Frasier walked through the entrance of the infirmary. Jack was glad to see that she was no longer wearing her hazmat suit.

"What happened? Is he okay? Where's Sam? Where's Jonas? Did she make it?" Jack was trying desperately to figure out how to get all of the contraptions off of him. Not having any luck, he decided that since the Doc was nearby, it was okay to lie back down. He'd untangle himself later when she wasn't looking.

"Colonel, try and relax, they are both in surgery right now. We had to get them stabilized before we could take them back to the O.R." Janet sat down on the bed next to the Colonel's. The one which Jonas had occupied when Jack had arrived on the gurney.

"Teal'c's going to be okay, although he lost quite a bit of blood, the wound to his head didn't penetrate the skull, and there's very little swelling in his brain. He's got a slight concussion, but that's not our main concern. Colonel, the ammunition that was being fired at you had some sort of poison in it. All of the rounds that were fired through the wormhole exploded on the walls. We don't know what kind of an antidote to give for the poison because the goo that the poison turns into eats through all of our testing equipment." Janet sighed as she looked over to Teal'c's bed.

"Oh, I'll just bet the N.I.D. is thrilled to hear about that. Another _valuable_ piece of alien technology they can sell to their business partners. What's Hammond say about that?"

Temporarily relieved that his team was alive for now, Jack wanted to know what was going on from the bureaucratic end of things.

"I don't really know sir." Janet said thoughtfully. "But I do know that we need to figure out what that poison is made from, or we're not going to be able to help Sam, Teal'c or Jonas. As for you, I don't know how you did it, but you saved them all. If they pull through this, they owe you one…a big one. And you have a bruised tailbone, but you'll make it just fine. Just… stay out of the wheelchairs, okay? They're not go-karts, but they can be just as dangerous." Janet was referring to Jack's little stunt a couple of months ago after a mission where he and Jonas were left in wheelchairs for some time.

Ignoring the Doc's jest, Jack started to inquire about the rest of his team. Just saying that they were in the O.R. wasn't good enough.

"Hey Doc, how are Sam and Jonas? They were both hurt pretty bad, but I was sure that Sam was a goner. How's she doing?" The Colonel whispered this last part as if he were afraid to know the answer.

"Well, Colonel, I am going to be honest, she lost a severe amount of blood. The wound penetrated through the right lung, and just…. shredded the sub-clavian arteries and veins. The poison was extremely necrotic to the surrounding tissue, I.."

"AAAAHHH no no no no no. Doc… in _ENGLISH_. Please, just tell me if they're gonna make it or not?!" Jack hated medical speak.

Ever so patient, Janet started again. "Sir, she's in critical condition. The surgery should be sufficient to repair the wound, and we can build new blood vessels using ones from her legs to substitute. But without an antidote, she and Jonas will not make it. Or Teal'c for that matter. Also, Jonas will need quite a bit of physical therapy too if he pulls through." Her words faded out as she lost herself in her thoughts.

Suddenly, Teal'c started to vomit again. Jack tried to sit up in the bed, and realized he was of course, still connected to all of Frasier's gizmos.

"Teal'c! Doc, what's the matter with him?"

Janet was already over to Teal'c's side, where she flipped a switch along the wall. A tube that was coming out of Teal'c's mouth started filling with dark, bloody contents. Jack followed with his eyes, as the contents rose through the tube into a container on the wall. The Colonel recognized this as suction, hooked up so that Teal'c wouldn't choke.

"We had to put him on suction so that we wouldn't have to turn him every time he started to vomit. Sam and Jonas will have to be put on it too. If we just had a sample of the poison before it explodes, then we could figure out what triggers it, and ultimately find a cure. I don't know how long they can continue on like this." The tiny doctor was stroking Teal'c's arm gently.

"How do we get the poison before it explodes? The only way that's ever going to happen is if we go back to that planet and retrieve one of the 'bullets'" O'Neill held up his fingers in a quotes gesture. " Not that I am afraid of getting hit, God knows I've been hit enough in my time, but it was a God damned firing squad! And I wouldn't dare risk sending another team back in there to get slaughtered."

"Unfortunately Colonel, the Pentagon and the N.I.D. are willing to take risks that you and I are not, and they do have final say over our budget here at the SGC." General Hammond entered through the same door that the Dr. had nearly a half an hour before.

Jack was very grateful indeed to see his CO. Hammond walked over to O'Neill's bed and shook the Colonel's hand.

"Job well done Colonel. You did a hell of a thing bringing them all home. We are all praying that we find a way to get an antidote. The Pentagon has already authorized another return mission back to P24-Y83, to recover any technology, plants, minerals, or anything that can be used to make the poisonous substance contained within the ammunition. Even better, they really want to get their hands on some of the ammunition, so that we can test it back here on earth. I just don't know who to send on a suicide mission, you know?" The General looked over to where Frasier was tending to chart work.

Startling both the Colonel and the General out of the somewhat uncomfortable silence, a scared, excited voice came over the loud speaker.

"Doctor Frasier to O.R. three STAT; we have a code blue. Dr. Frasier to operating room three!"

Janet flew across the room as fast as her little legs would carry her. The two superior officers questioned the Doc with their eyes, but neither one opened his mouth.

Before she disappeared from view, Jack couldn't stand not to say anything to Janet.

"Doc! What's going on?!" O'Neill called after her.

Quickly, the small woman turned back to answer Jack. "It's a code in the operating room….O.R. three is Sam's room." And Janet Frasier was gone out the door.

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Okay, so it was a little angsty, I lied. Don't sue, just review, and let me know what you think, but the rest of the story has to be betaed, so bear with me. 


	8. Ch 8: fixing things

Chapter 8: Fixing things

Author's note: I just can't stand when good people die…. On that note, I shall spoil no more. But this chapter was meant to lighten things up just a bit.

After an intense forty five minutes, Janet arrived back in the infirmary, a haggard look on her face. General Hammond had returned to his duties, but had given Jack strict orders to inform him when Dr. Frasier had any news. Teal'c was still out of it, and the Colonel was working on getting unhooked from all of the machines when the Doc returned.

"Colonel, those monitors are on you for a reason." Janet said with a sigh. She really didn't feel like dealing with his belligerence right now. So instead of going to his bed and re-attaching all of the machines and leads, she just walked to her desk, and shed her lab coat to reveal green surgi-scrubs. She sat down in her chair with another weary sigh, and put her head in her hand as she rested at the desk.

"I know Doc, but I am fine. I just have a really sore butt that's all. How's Carter?" Jack couldn't stand it any more; he had to get out of the bed. He swung his legs over the side towards where the petite doctor was sitting, grimacing in pain as his bruised tailbone took the brunt of the change in position.

"She's stable for now, Colonel, but I don't know for how long. The poison in her and Jonas's systems is just creating havoc with their internal organs, and brain chemistry. Dr. Warner reported that Jonas woke up in the middle of his surgery and was hallucinating badly. He woke up, from _general _anesthesia. Sir, that's pretty rare. Sam hasn't regained consciousness yet, and with the level of toxin in her blood, I don't expect her to unless we find an antidote. Teal'c doesn't seem to be improving either. I just don't know what to do." Janet was looking over at Jack's bed from where she sat.

Jack started to stand up to get out of the bed. His backside was throbbing something fierce, but he just couldn't handle lying down in bed while his team was in peril. The Colonel rose and began taking the short walk to where Teal'c was abnormally still as he spilled over the edges of the bed. Just then, the Colonel had an idea.

"Hey Janet, what did they do with all of the equipment and stuff that we brought back? All of our gear and our uniforms. Or what was left of our uniforms. Do you know?"

Janet looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, we were afraid to do anything with them except seal them up in bio hazard containers. The goo was all over the place and it eats through all of our testing equipment, we already tried that sir."

"No, no what I mean is, maybe one of the gizmos that Carter and Teal'c were carrying, got hit with a slug that didn't explode, we should check it out!" 

Finally excited for something to do that might help, the Colonel turned a little too quickly toward the cabinet that held the scrub pants. He was used to where everything was by now, and after all, he couldn't walk back to his room to get changed with his ass hanging out. He reached for the scrubs after ripping open the closet door. 

"Why are you just sitting there Doc?"

O'Neill was frantically trying to get the green scrub pants on. He got one leg in about four inches, and because he couldn't bend over all the way, tried to take a short cut and put the other leg in too. Jack tried to yank the pants up, and got the waist to calf level. Both feet were stuck in the legs of the pants, and as Jack pulled, he wobbled, and tried hopping, and the next thing he knew he fell forward into the cabinet. Bonking his head on the way down, the Colonel hit the cement floor knees first. A resonating _PONG _sounded as he came to rest on his knees with his hands still grasping the drawstrings of the pants, face on the floor, and butt sticking up in the air.

Janet watched all of this with welcome amusement. It was great because only thirty seconds before the Colonel had gotten out of the bed, she had felt like she was going to cry. Then, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She fell forward on her desk, braying loud, snorting laughter throughout the quiet infirmary. Jack didn't move. He just knelt on the floor with his butt sticking in the air, naked as could be, exposed because his hospital gown had betrayed him.

"OW." Was all that Jack could manage to get out.

Before the doctor could get a hold of herself, the surgical team appeared in the doorway to the infirmary wheeling Jonas, who was asleep in his bed, still recovering from the anesthesia. Unfortunately for the Colonel, his bare behind was facing away from Janet, and towards the infirmary entrance, where the O.R. team just stood staring with their mouths open. They glanced towards their CMO who was falling all over herself laughing hysterically. 

"Well….HAHAHAHAHAH… Colonel….HAHAHHAHAA, I can understand why you don't like the hospital...HAHAHAHAHA…gowns. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Janet was holding her side and tears were flowing freely from the corners of her eyes. The surgical staff joined in with Janet's laughter. They knew the Colonel was going to be laughed at for weeks to come over this stunt.

"Help…hahhaaa.. help him up, would you? I have to do Jonas's assessment." Janet got up and walked over to the entrance to help one of the nurses wheel Jonas's bed into the infirmary. As the doctor wiped at her cheeks, she tried not to glance over at where the Colonel was still kneeling, but her eyes wandered anyway. She saw the view that the surgical staff had first received, and started laughing all over again.

As the staff's laughter died down, two members of the surgical team reached down to get a hold of Jack. One nurse grabbed one of his arms, and a doctor grabbed the other one.

"Colonel, you have to let go of the pants sir." Janet heard the doctor tell Jack, as she started her assessment on Jonas.

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It's almost over, the next chapter brings it to a close, I just thought the story need a break from the angst.

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	9. chapter 9:surprises

Chapter 9: Surprises

Author's note: The title says it all.

Another hour passed after the surgical staff helped Jack back into bed, before they wheeled Sam in on her bed, like they had done with Jonas. The Colonel was fairly quiet after his humbling indecent exposure, and he hadn't felt like getting changed after all. He just lie in the infirmary listening to all the machines and beeps, and the occasional snicker or chuckle whenever one of the infirmary staff glanced his way. His heart sank when he saw how awful Sam looked. She was on a ventilator, and was hooked up to more doohickeys than any of her other team mates combined. Jack didn't think he could bare to look at her that way, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Jack sat up very slowly as Janet came over to do Sam's post-op assessment. Keeping the covers over his legs this time, he swung them out of the bed. Sam was on the other side of Teal'c and Jack couldn't see that well, so he wanted to change his vantage point.

"How is she Doc?" Jack asked for what seemed like the hundredth time in five minutes.

"If you will just give me a minute to finish assessing her I will tell you sir." Janet said rather annoyed. She really hated when the Colonel was one of her patients, she never got any of her other work done.

"Well, they cleaned and closed the wound, but it's not going to heal unless…."

"We find an antidote, I know." Jack interrupted.

"General Hammond is getting pressure from the pentagon to send another team back through to the planet to see what kind of new technology they can come up with. I heard he's trying to stall them, especially after what has happened to your team. He doesn't want to risk potentially losing another good team to an ambush. I am very glad that he's being prudent on this one. I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing." Janet trailed off, and continued to stand at Sam's bedside.

Jack didn't answer, he just sat on the edge of his bed waiting for the CMO to say something else. Just then, the monitor alarms went off around Jonas's bed. Janet nearly leaped over Teal'c to get to him. O'Neill just sat in stunned silence as he watched the rest of the infirmary staff fly over to Jonas's bed to assist Frasier.

"His heart rate is increasing, 110 beats per minute. Watch him, he might go into V-Tach." Janet just stood by, and observed as the monitors started to settle back down. Then, Jonas must have decided that he'd had enough, because his eyes fluttered slowly open.

"Jonas! Welcome back, do you know where you are?" Janet asked in a soft, gentle voice, as she whipped out her penlight. Jonas had already been taken off of the ventilator after he had returned from his surgery, but his autonomic reflexes needed time to recover.

He simply nodded yes one time and turned his head to look directly at Jack.

"Good to know you're okay Jonas. That was a pretty nasty wound. They say you'll need crutches for quite sometime." The Colonel knew that if Jonas had woken up, then there was a chance for Sam and Teal'c to wake up too.

Jonas didn't answer Jack, but only nodded at the Colonel. Jack understood perfectly.

"You're welcome." The Colonel could have sworn he saw a little bit of hope on the small Dr.'s face as she told the staff to standby just in case. She left Jack quietly talking to Jonas and walked back to her desk to look at some lab work. As she sat down to study her reports, she suddenly had almost the same idea that the Colonel had been in such a hurry to get out of bed for earlier. She headed back over to talk to Jonas.

"Jonas, did you happen to get a hold of any of the alien bullets that might not have exploded? We tried running tests on the goo, but it contains some kind of acid that we have never seen before. It eats through every thing. I think that the only reason you're conscious now is because your immune system is functioning at about the same level as Teal'c's, although I don't know why he hasn't regained consciousness yet. But your lab reports still show a significant, and deadly amount of that poison in your blood. In fact, if your blood wasn't acting as a buffer, we wouldn't be able to test it at all. Did you happen to get one of the bullets?" Janet seemed more than anxious now, but mostly because she was worried that she was running out of time.

"I'm sorry Dr. Frasier, I didn't." Jonas croaked hoarsely. He turned his head over to where Sam and Teal'c lay in their respective beds, each with a different set of machines hooked up to them. He started to get a funny feeling in his chest, and quite alarmingly, Jonas broke into a ferocious sweat.

"Jonas, what's wrong? Talk to me, what's going on?" Janet had seen the sweat start to run down Jonas's pale face, and she motioned for the other staff to join her at his bedside.

Jonas closed his eyes and the monitors went crazy.

"He's in V-Tach, Jesus, his pressure is 220 over 100, He's going to stroke out if we don't bring his pressure down. Okay...start a Heparin drip. I want a 10,000 unit bolus with a maintenence dose of 6,000 units every four hours. I need some Lasix too, I don't know what's going on with him, but I also want another CBC, Chem 7 with a differential, and stand by with the crash cart." Janet's orders were loud and clear, and everyone started moving immediately.

"What's gonna happen to him?" O'Neill asked with some reverence. He really didn't think he could stand to lose another member of his team. Even if it was Jonas.

"I don't know sir. I just really don't know." Janet was watching one of the nurses hang the ordered medication. 

Then, General Hammond came through the entrance to the infirmary with Davis hot on his heels.

"Dr. Frasier, we think we might have something here." Davis said. "We were reviewing the MALP footage that we got while you're team was under fire. It took us a while to piece it back together after all of the malfunctions with our equipment, but there is something you should know." Davis was talking to both the Doctor and the Colonel.

"Okay Sergeant. out with it." Hammond ordered.

"Sir, Maam, we saw some of the footage where Major Carter was sitting alone by the DHD. Since we couldn't see you Colonel, we assume that was when you were helping Jonas and Teal'c. While she was sitting at the base of the DHD, Major Carter reached over beside her, and picked something off of the ground. After some visual enhancement, we think that what she picked up was one of the alien bullets, but we can't be sure. She stuck it in her vest pocket before she lost consciousness."

Janet looked at Jack, and they both looked at Sam. Then Janet was on the phone to hazmat storage.

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Okay, sorry. What was supposed to be one chapter might end up being two or three. hope you're having fun, enjoy the rest of the story!


	10. chapter 10 holding on

Chapter 10: holding on

Author's note: Thanks to all who have reviewed, and made suggestions. I thought Sam needed a break after all of the whumping that I have given her.

"The Haz-mat team is on the way down to storage to search through Major Carter's equipment sirs!" Janet said to the General and the Colonel.

"Colonel, you said that Sam never regained consciousness. How was it that she was able to pull this off?" 

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know that she had come back around for a little bit. When I set her down by the DHD, she moaned a lot, but she never opened her eyes. I was in such a hurry to get everyone home, that I just missed it." Jack was quietly kicking himself; if Sam had been conscious, and it was for the last time, and he hadn't been around to see it....

//shut up Jack, she'll get through this. You're just being paranoid. The Doc will think of something. //

The phone rang at the other end of the infirmary, and cut the Colonel off from his thoughts. The General and his second waited while the Chief Medical Officer of the SGC hurried to the phone. Jack got tired just looking at her. He hated being a patient in here, so he always pestered Janet to relieve the boredom that was part of being held hostage in the infirmary. He seriously thought that she might get tired of him just one time and put him in the isolation room and throw away the key. But as many times as he'd worn down her patience, Janet never once lost her cool with him. That, in turn always presented Jack with a challenge, as one of his main goals in life was to get a rise out of people, just to see their reactions. Janet and Sam were always ahead of him though; always just a little bit quicker, and a lot more patient with him than he'd have been if the situation were reversed.

A little while later, the rest of the infirmary staff was still tending to Jonas, when a uniformed airman in a hazardous materials suit entered the infirmary, and stood at attention to salute his superiors.

"Whatcha got airman?" Jack asked as he sorely scooted his behind across the bed. He could sooo use a hot shower right about now. The airman raised his left hand up to yield a pair of strong looking tongs with a little tiny object between the ends.

"This was the only piece leftover in one of the vest pockets on your team's gear sir. We didn't recognize it. Is this what you were looking for maam?" The airman turned to Frasier as he spoke.

"Terrific, yep, that's it. Great, get it to the bio lab right away and run an analysis on the contents of the capsule. Tell the lab techs that it's not airborne, so the suits can come off. They'll be grateful. Hurry up, right now, we don't have a lot of time." Janet ordered.

The airman began to remove his haz-mat helmet, when the General barked at him.

"MOVE AIRMAN! You can take that suit off when you get that up to the lab. Double-time it right now, our people are dying over here!" The airman ran out the door without even saluting, a pale, scared look on his face as he went. "And don't drop that capsule!" The General looked around at the rest of the occupants in the infirmary. Nobody dared look back at him except for Jack. Even Janet was carefully keeping her head down while she adjusted one of the machines around Teal'c's bed. They knew that when General Hammond was upset, his orders were not to be taken lightly, and he rarely got upset unless there was a true need.

"Very nicely done sir, I wouldn't have put it better myself." Jack stated smugly. He loved being an officer.

"Just earning my paycheck Colonel. Well, and Major Carter, Teal'c and Jonas's lives I hope. You know, the whole time that we kept the wormhole open, not one of our men took a hit at this end. It's a good thing too. I have been stalling the N.I.D. as long as I can, but the Pentagon has final say on who, what, and when something goes through that gate. I hope the lab technicians get some positive results. We could use a few right now. I really don't want to send another team back to that planet to be slaughtered."

"I know you're doing your best sir, everyone here does. We know all about the red tape crap that you have to go through to keep this place running. Kinsey almost closed us down remember?" Jack was in rare form, as usually he was trying to get by with as little moral support as needed to retain his position as second in command at the SGC. Under the circumstances, he thought a little humility was in order.

"How could I forget Colonel? He rubs it in our face every chance he gets." Hammond took a seat next to Jack's bed.

"Sergeant, you can go now. Keep me updated about the gate diagnostics, and come find me if the Pentagon calls, will you? I'm going to stay here a while." The General had forgotten all about Davis, who had come in behind him to relay the new information to Frasier.

"Yes sir." Davis turned on his heels and left the infirmary, not quite as in a hurry as the airman had been in previously.

Hammond and O'Neill talked on about different things to keep their minds occupied while the lab was trying to come up with conclusive results about the substance contained in the alien ammunition. They went back and forth about the General's grandchildren, and O'Neill's latest favorite episode of the Simpsons. Anything they could talk about that was not military related, they did. Neither one wanted to approach the subject of what would happen if the lab wasn't able to come up with anything, but it was at the back of both men's minds. Over an hour passed, while Dr. Frasier called the lab every five minutes or so. To Jack, she was starting to act a lot like himself, and she couldn't sit still at all. She made her rounds between her patients after every phone call, even though the monitors blipped on without interruption. Then Teal'c opened his eyes for the first time since he'd been hit.

"Teal'c's awake sirs." Janet said cautiously. She wasn't sure how much swelling was actually going on, even though the CAT scan only showed a slight bit of fluid on his brain.

"Teal'c, I know you aren't really together, and everything feels a little fuzzy, but do you know where you are?" Janet was starting her post-head trauma mantra.

"I know." Teal'c mumbled past the suction tube that was coming out of his mouth. Like Jonas, suddenly Teal'c began to get a strange feeling in his chest. All at once, the monitor alarms went off and Teal'c began to convulse uncontrollably.

"Help me hold him down! Push 3 milligrams of Ativan IV.... wait...he's coming down from it." Frasier was correct. The spasm or seizure or whatever it had been eased off as suddenly as it had come on. Teal'c again had his eyes closed, as Hammond and O'Neill watched on in fear and awe. Then the telephone rang. As Frasier answered the phone, she mouthed the words "It's the Lab" to the Colonel and the General.

The men watched as a confused, puzzled look came over the short doctor's face. What exactly had the lab found, anyway?

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^ Sorry, there's one more on the way, and I promise it will be done. Hope you have enjoyed so far, please feel free to review at your leisure.


	11. ch 11 crofab

Chapter 11: Crofab

Author's note: Bless all that have reviewed, I hope the ending is acceptable for the story. Thanks for taking the time to read!

"What?" Hammond and O'Neill said in unison as they waited for Frasier to hang up the phone.

Janet didn't answer, but instead right away dialed another number and asked for an outside line. The Colonel and the General were confused, but they kept their mouths shut. If anything, they knew when Janet was onto something, so they just let her do her work. They overheard her ask for a shipment of Crofab, and then she patiently turned to Hammond.

"Sir, the people that I have on the phone are from a laboratory that supplies civilian hospitals in the western United States. I will tell you all about it in a minute, but I know what is going to save their lives." She pointed at the ailing three members of SG-1.

"I just need you to authorize the shipment of this medicine to Cheyenne Mountain. Otherwise, they won't deliver because it's a military facility. And since you are sitting right here, I figured protocol could wait until after we have what we need. Please sir, we don't have much time." Janet didn't have to say any more, Hammond was already on his way over to speak with who ever was on the other end.

As he hung up the phone, Hammond turned to look down at Janet.

"Doctor, would you mind explaining why I just authorized a chemical called Crofab to be air lifted to this mountain? What is it, will the budget analysts have my hide, and is an hour and a half enough time to get it here?"

"Well sir, I can tell you what it is, and I am pretty certain the budget people are going to have a riot, and I really hope they can get here faster than 90 minutes, we may not have that long." Janet wasn't backing down on this one, and the General simply decided to sit back down next to the Colonel's bed and listen. Jack for once decided that keeping his mouth shut was his best option at the moment. Janet started in again.

"Two of the chemicals that the lab found in the alien ammunition pellet that Sam recovered were extremely close to two chemicals we have here on earth. One is sulfuric acid. The aliens use a dehydrated form of the acid that mixes with another chemical upon impact causing the acid to activate and expand, or combust if you will. They haven't identified the second chemical that catalyzes the 'acid', but one of the other chemicals they did find was almost identical to the venom from a rattlesnake here on earth." 

Jack and Hammond looked at each other, beginning to understand a little of what the excited doctor was explaining. They looked back at Janet and she continued on.

"The effects of venom on the human body are usually fatal if they get into the bloodstream and are left untreated. It causes intense muscle swelling, tissue damage, hemorrhaging, and fluctuations in blood pressure. Which would explain why they all bled so much after they were shot. Also, when we make a bullet, we put gunpowder, and carbon, and other things in it to make the bullet so that it can be fired from the gun. What if the aliens used this concoction of chemicals to not only expel the ammunition from their weapons, but to create a deadly poison even if the initial hit from the ammunition didn't kill it's victims? Did you see any evidence of the poisonous gel anywhere when you arrived on the planet Colonel?" She thought she'd lost Jack in the explanation, but he was hanging on to every word.

"No, we didn't see anything except trees and vines and jungle...stuff. The only time that I started seeing the goo was when they all got shot and it started oozing out of their wounds." Jack winced as he again thought of the SPAM sound the goo had made when he was doing chest compressions on Sam.

"That's what I thought. My theory is, that the chemicals being native to that planet were more harmful because they were simply foreign substances that their" nods towards SG-1 "bodies couldn't handle. Who knows, you could have hit one of the aliens and they could have had the same reaction from the non-terrestrial alloys that our ammunition is made of. General, what I ordered was indeed called Crofab. It is the latest anti-venom on the market, and it causes the least amount of side effects. The only question is, did we wait too long?" Janet was watching the monitors around Jonas.

"Let's hope not Doctor, or I just spent sixty eight thousand dollars of the Pentagon's money to watch my people die, and that's just not acceptable." Hammond answered right back, referring to his phone call earlier.

"Yes sir, but I think..." Janet didn't finish her sentence. She looked over at where Sam lay in her bed. The Major's eyes were fluttering, and then they were open. Janet rushed over to her side. Without thinking about it, Jack tried to jump up out of the bed. He made it out of the bed, but had to stop for a split second to catch his breath from the pain. He quickly grabbed the back of his gown to cover his bum, and went to stand by Janet.

"Carter, can you hear me?" Jack wasn't about to miss this opportunity to speak to her. Sam nodded through the ventilator. He didn't care whether Hammond was watching or not, he gently took Sam's hand in his and started speaking in a soft, humble voice as he stroked her fingers with his thumb.

"Carter, I ..." and then she closed her eyes again. Jack kept on anyway. "Carter? Hey! Doc, she's back out again, isn't she?" Jack said, concern etched into his face as he questioned Janet. 

"Sir, she's not gone yet, we still have to try the Crofab. But yes, for now it seems she's passed back out. Which is probably the best thing for now. Would you like me to get you another gown to wear on the back like a robe, so you can sit with her sir?" Frasier asked as she looked up at Jack who was holding one of Sam's hands, and holding his gown with the other hand.

"Um, okay, thanks." was all he said. Janet got him the robe, and he pulled a chair over to Sam's bed. The General slid his chair around in between Teal'c and Jonas's beds, and that's they way they sat until the anti-venom arrived topside. Not a word was spoken.

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The Crofab arrived twenty minutes earlier than had been expected. Jack guessed that when the civilians heard that the military was involved, they rushed the shipment as fast as possible. He didn't care; Janet had what she needed, that was the important thing.

The small doctor was hurrying as fast as she could to mix up all the vials of Crofab. She passed some syringes out to two of the nurses, and she herself took the other ones. The nurses went to Teal'c and Jonas, and Janet went to Sam. They administered as much of the anti-venom as they had, and now all they had to do was wait.

Another half an hour went by, and nothing happened with any of the patients.

Then, Jonas was the first to respond. His eyes fluttered open, and the monitor indicated that his blood pressure was stable. Jack looked over from his chair near Sam.

"Good to have you back son, you and the rest of SG-1 were in serious trouble there for a while." Hammond said as Jonas turned to look at him. He winced as the light hit his eyes, and he tried to move his leg, which was in a cast.

"Yes, Jonas, thank you for not dying. I would owe a lot of people money if you died within the first year of joining our team. Everyone here at the SGC thinks I am cursed. Welcome back." Jack smiled lightly and saw Jonas crack a little grin at the Colonel's joke.

"Thank you Colonel." Jonas barely managed to whisper.

"Jonas, I want you to take it easy, your body has been through a lot. But we have given you some medicine that will help, it's just going to take some time. Okay?" Janet Frasier said as she finished checking over Jonas. The young man nodded.

Teal'c was the next to come around, and he did so with quite a bit more energy than Jonas had, maybe because he hadn't lost as much blood as the others. Janet came over to Teal'c's bed as the large Jaffa was attempting to remove the tube that was still jammed in his mouth for suction. 

"Here Teal'c, let me. When I pull this out, I want you to take a big breath and blow. One...Two...Three!" With that, Janet removed the tube from Teal'c's stomach, and he coughed until the sensation subsided.

"Teal'c, buddy, it's okay, we made it. Take it easy, you're going to be here for a little bit." Jack was very grateful that two members of his team had pulled through, now he was just waiting on Sam. Teal'c nodded at his commander.

"It is good to know that you made it home safe O'Neill. The last thing I remember is rolling down the ramp upon returning to the SGC. I am in your debt once again for saving my life." Teal'c said humbly.

"Credit the doc Teal'c, we would have lost all of you, had she not been here. But you're welcome. I know you'll pay me back, you always do." Jack smiled broadly this time at his alien friend. Teal'c lowered his eyes and respectfully nodded.

Sam was in the worst shape, and it took a while longer before she again regained consciousness. Her eyes opened, and she was met with applause when she turned her head to look around the room. Janet explained about the anti-venom, and how it wouldn't have been possible if Sam hadn't have found the bullet. She was in the infirmary, and her friends surrounded her. After an assessment to make sure she was okay to breathe on her own Janet leaned down to talk to Sam.

"Sam, I am going to take this tube out now. When I count to three, take a deep breath and blow out as hard as you can. One...two...three!" The doctor removed the tube, and Sam repeated the coughing spell that Teal'c had shown off a while ago.

"Way to go Carter. Even in death's grasp you still mange to find the solution, how DO you do that?" Jack said still holding Sam's hand. She looked down at their hands and just shrugged. She grimaced with the shrug realizing what part of her body was used for that particular gesture.

"You know me sir..."Sam whispered from a hoarse throat. "I can't leave well enough alone. I saw the pellet lying on the ground, and I just thought that we could explore the technology. I didn't know that it would save our lives. I just know that I am never eating at McGraw's for lunch again." The infirmary broke out in laughter over Sam's joke.

"That's too bad Carter, I hear they have a fantastic turkey club." Jack laughed as he saw Sam's face pale over.

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So that's it folks. I really hope you enjoyed this story, review and let me know. Thanks again for taking the time to read.


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